June 20 (Bloomberg) -- The World Bank Group’s International
Finance Corp. will close its fund for investing in projects that
generate emissions credits from 2013, after the first period of
the United Nations’ Kyoto Protocol ends.

The IFC suspended its Carbon Facility Fund about seven
months ago after it had raised 150 million euros ($191 million),
as plummeting UN offset prices triggered a measure to protect
developing-nation projects supplying the credits.

“Following a decline in carbon prices, the facility is not
able to offer a structure that allows for value to both
participants and project developers,” Alexandra Klopfer, a
spokeswoman for IFC in Washington, said yesterday by e-mail.
“The participants decided in May 2012 that the facility will
not make any new commitments.”

The fund will continue to support the one project it
committed to in July 2011, Klopfer said. The IFC will fund
renewable energy and low-carbon growth using its own funds and
donations, she said.

JPMorgan Chase & Co, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, and Mercuria
Energy Group Ltd. are among investors that committed to the
fund, which was to provide credits that may be eligible for use
in the European Union carbon market.

United Nations carbon prices lost 67 percent in the past
year as industrial production stagnated and climate talks
struggled to achieve progress on reaching a global agreement to
reduce carbon emissions.

UN carbon credits for delivery in December fell 2.6 percent
to 3.77 euros a metric ton on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in
London at 2:50 p.m.